By KETRA KALUNGA
DON’T sensationalise the corruption crusade because it undermines investigations while tarnishing the image of those involved, says veteran politician George Mpombo.
He added that the outcome of such investigations may be damaging due to the negative narrative being portrayed,
And Mr. Mpombo says owning property should not be viewed by the government or anyone as a crime because it’s a way of securing one’s future.
He said in an interview that investigations in alleged cases of corruption shouldn’t be sensationalised but should be conducted within the law.
Mr Mpombo, who is a former minister of Defence said while the crusade against corruption is welcome, it should however be done within the law and not in a manner that instil fear in citizens.
“The picture is frightening, just in the manner that these things are being conducted, it is sending a very frightening and negative message that gives a deliberate and calculated scheme to harass former leaders in the previous government,” he said.
And Mr. Mpombo said people shouldn’t fear to own property because there is nothing wrong for a person to invest in property.
He urged the government to ensure that people don’t fear to involve in assets business because if that happened then the country would be robbed of development.
Mr. Mpombo said the government should at all cost avoid taking the country back to the old system of the leadership code practiced in the UNIP era that prevented people from investing in property.
He said a lot of UNIP officials died out of depression when the party was voted out of power and were chased from their houses without benefits because they feared to invest in property.
“We don’t want to go back to the old system of leadership code, UNIP days of leadership code were quite bad in that it deprived people including leaders to think of the future so owning of property surely should not be viewed as a crime,” Mr Mpombo said.
